The High Court in Nairobi on Friday, May 2, declared President William Ruto's Climate Change Council appointments unconstitutional.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi, in his ruling, nullified the appointments of four members to the Council, citing a lack of adequate public participation by the government.
During the hearing of the case, the court found that there was no evidence of public engagement and that the respondents failed to demonstrate how public participation was conducted.
Following the ruling, Justice Mugambi ordered the government to conduct fresh nominations within 90 days from the judgment day.
The judgment follows an initial court order that temporarily suspended the four members, Emily Mwende, John Kioli, Umar Omar and George Odera from assuming office until the petition filed against their appointment was heard and determined.
Justice Mugure Thande, in February 2023, suspended Ruto's appointees from assuming office after a lobby group filed a suit challenging their appointments on several grounds.
The lobby group in their petition cited a lack of legal threshold on transparency, competitiveness and a lack of public participation in the appointments.
The petitioners argued that civil society organisations working on climate change in the country were never involved in the appointments of the 4 members.
"It is not clear who among the nominees is a representative of the largest civil society organisation working on climate change, as it is required by the Council Act," the petitioners told the court.
"It is also not clear whether there was any form of public participation in the selection of the said individuals in accordance with the Public Participation Act," the lobby group added.
Among those attached as respondents in the petition was former Public Service Cabinet secretary Justin Muturi, who was at the time the country's Attorney General.
Ruto had appointed the four members to the Council as part of the broader efforts to combat the ripple effects of climate change. The function of the Council includes advising the Head of State on relevant climate policies.
